Why do some people object to there being no main black characters in Friends or Seinfeld? I watch Martin, Living Single, etc. and don't care that there are no white people.
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Name : Jay31092, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I understand what you mean. I'm black and love Seinfeld, Friends and some other shows that happen to not have black characters. I don't see anything wrong with this, but I know some other black people complain. I think some shows should be able to stay 'all-white' because they mirror real life. I can see people complaining that a black face has NEVER showed up on the show, but I don't see anything wrong with all the lead characters of certain shows being of one race.
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Name : Alea29011, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Christian, Age : 22, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, Being an African American, I see it as a problem. It is discouraging to see all these hit shows and no one who looks like me on any of them. People think we've reached 'equality' just because black shows have been created to combat their absence on TV. But that's not true. I don't think the shows are true to reality. The shows starring African Americans were created because of the lack of dominant roles for African-American actors and actressess. If there were black people on shows like Seinfeld and Friends, then there would not be as much of a need for Martin and Moesha as there is now.
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Name : Christine, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 19, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, Above all things, these shows take place in New York, where there is a high minority population. However, in Martin and Living Single, most of the show takes place in their homes. In Friends, a lot of the show takes place in a cafe, where you would expect to see a higher frequency of minorities coming in and out (as opposed to coming into their homes as guests.) Every color I know drinks coffee.
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Name : Seymour, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 21, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, Well, Jay, you wouldn't care that those sitcoms you named don't have any white people - because white people are plastered all over the TV as it is. Perhaps we should just sit back and be glad we were 'given' The Cosby Show. And to correct you, in the early days of Martin, his engineer was white.
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Name : LaShawn, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 31, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, To respond to Jarrett, Oxford, OH: Living in Ohio you may not be aware of the level of 'incidental' segregation in NY despite the amount of 'minorities' . As stereotypical as you may assume this statement to be, if you walk into any Starbucks in NY, you will see almost all white people, and if you walk into any McDonalds or Wendys, you will see mainly black and Hispanic - this is not assumption, but a something i see on a daily basis. This is not to say that blacks don't drink coffee or that whites don't eat convenience food, but if you actually lived in NY you would notice this perculiarity for yourself. So in fact, the few black customers seen in the coffee shop in Friends is strangely accurate. Just the other night, I had drinks and dinner with a friend (in Manhattan), and he was one of only 3 black people in the entire bar!!! Go figure!! (he chose the place, not me) Also to address other responders remarks, tv shows with all black casts are not created merely as a reaction to yesteryears shows with few black characters, but by a need to address issues particular to the black community that mixed cast show may not be able to fully explore. In genearal, people like to watch shows that are relevant to their own experiences, and it is unfortunate that the US experience is somewhat determined by race and hence, many shows reflect this.
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Name : Jay31083, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, On the other hand, we could all turn off the darn thing and read a book, which would make the issue a moot point. Seriously, I can see that an all-white show is a reflection of reality... but it must be rather disheartening to the black community to feel excluded... although not an entirely new feeling, I imagine. Do blacks feel that it's the show's star and 'raison d'etre' is jewish? (There seems to be strong animosity between those 2 racial groups in the US.)
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Name : Karl Strand, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Philosopher, Age : 40, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Social Worker, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower class, Generally speaking there's been a lack of ethnic diversity in the most popular television programs, hence the need for 'all-Black' shows like Martin. In the '80's The Cosby Show celebrated cultural diversity, and today the trend continues with Bernie Mac Show and The West Wing. Although, Mac's wildly successful show centers around a Black family it's clearly multi-cultural, funny, above all intelligent and demonstrates that as long as a show is well conceived and written America will and can accept a cast out several colors.
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Name : Bill, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 42, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper class, To be honest Jay I don't even like sitcoms. I watch movies most of the time. It does not bother me that there are no blacks on the shows that you mentioned not because I don't like watching them, but because I don't find it insulting. I think as far as real life and racism and what actually effects me who is included in the cast of friends is the least of my concern. It truly does not even enter my mind when I think about racism like say hate groups on the internet do. However, I did notice one night while watching Mad T.V. that on the show that night they had a black man with his white girlfriend pretending to be on a dating show. The black man was portrayed as also being her pimp and while on this dating show he called her a cracker and a honkey. This was racism if I had ever seen it. As far as I am concernd it was an insult to both whites and blacks. Afterwards there was no outrage from either side so I guess people find that funny. I wonder though if the white woman had called the black man the 'N' word would there have been outrage. Being biracial myself allows me and even calls me at times to see things in a way that others can not. I think as Americans we have come a long way with a lot farther to go. Still, comparing the cast of our sitcoms which I would like to remind everyone come and go faster than you can change your mind sometimes, is really not significant. We have real problems or enemies to many of us black and white in hate groups who want to start race wars. We have hate plasterd all over the internet and I want it off and I can't believe I'm the only one. These hate groups hide behind freedom of speech all the while promoting murder. Maybe those sitcoms are important to some people, but for myself they can wait untill after we have dealt with the actual hate as opposed to sitcoms without cast members who share my skin pigmentation.
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Name : Jaeden, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : biracial, Religion : Christian, Age : 28, City : modesto, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : data entry, Education level : Technical School, Social class : Lower middle class, It's worth noting that there's been PLENTY of racial diversity in television's leading dramatic shows over the last ten ears. There have been black doctors on 'E.R.' and 'Chicago Hope,' black lawyers on 'The Practice' and 'L.A. Law,' black cops on 'Third Watch' and 'NYPD Blue,' etc. The all-white' shows that many black people complain about are all sitcoms, like 'Seinfeld' and 'Friends.' But let's face facts: if those sitcoms added black actors to the cast, black Americans would be just as outraged! Think about it- suppose that the role of Kramer on 'Seinfeld' had been given to a black comedian. Black activists would be screaming that 'Kramer is a latter-day Stepin Fetchit, a crude, unforgivable, racist stereotype!' Or suppose the role of Joey on 'Friends' had gone to a black actor. Joey is a dim bulb, so black activists would be FURIOUS that a black man was being portrayed negatively. The fact is, the essence of comedy is stupid people saying and doing ridiculous things. But black activists are so oversensitive and quick to complain, white poducers are terrified of casting black actors in potentially degrading comic roles.
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Name : Astorian, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 38, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, When I was younger, I used to watch a show called 'Family Matters' which is about a black family. I loved the show, but I always wondered why there were few white people, and when whites were on the show, they were portrayed as unintelligent or mean (ie. the father's police companion). That was years ago, and I don't see that in any other shows (thank goodness). I think the main reason why people are concerned with all-white or all-black shows is because neither of them are proportionate to the general reality of the US. Yet if all shows had to use statistical ratios for racial casting, I wouldn't agree with that either. The truth is that racial ratios differ greatly all over the country. I think that as long as the races are portrayed equally in terms of intelligence and levels of compassion, then they can be slightly out of balance in terms of representation in numbers.
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Name : Beth23207, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 21, City : San Diego, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, I agree with you Jay. I am Black and I could care less if there are Blacks on Friends or Whites on Living Single. One day we will all just be people! And I strongly disagree with those people who say they need to see 'people like them' on TV. Typically, one socializes with people like them - sometimes that crosses the color barrier and sometimes it does not. One would hope that in the 21st century and post Sept. 11 that people will just grow up.
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Name : Stacy, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : Black/African American, Age : 35, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, i wonder about this myself jay, why do they care? they also have magazine, orginazations etc. etc. without white people but you dont hear us complaining....
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Name : Leah26129, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Winter Haven, State : FL Country : United States, Friends and Seinfeld are both based in NYC, the most ethnically diverse city in the world. It just seems strange to have a show that's based in NYC have so little ethnic diversity. As for Martin and Living Single, why add white characters when over 90% of all television shows have white leads already?
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Name : Michele-Holly20739, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 36, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 
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Because Friends is unrealistic. To live in NYC and NEVER see blacks or latinos or asians is absurd. The only realistic all-white show is Cheers and that's because it was in Boston.
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Name : G, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Christian, Age : 17, City : Columbus, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : High School Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 
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